Level 1

28 points

Itunes 12.7 bug: every song is its own album

Devices: iPhone 7+ IOS 11.1, iPad Mini 2 IOS 11.1, iPhone 4s IOS 9

Since updating to iTunes 12.7 for Windows, albums of MP3's can no longer be grouped by album on my devices. Each song is appearing as a separate album.

NB: this is music being uploaded from my PC to my iPhone, not downloaded from iTunes or the cloud.

After uninstalling 12.7, deleting the .itl file and reverting to iTunes 12.6, (beware iTunes will delete all your device's ringtones and music), music is transferred correctly and groups by Album as expected.

Reinstalling 12.7 reintroduces the bug. Uninstalling and reverting to 12.6 reverses it.

I have seen others reporting the same issue.

Can we get confirmation that this is a known issue and will be fixed, please?

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 11, null

Posted on Sep 27, 2017 3:43 PM

Top-ranking reply

Budda Dave

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Jan 26, 2018 3:09 PM

I have Had this problem too on IPhone 8 and Ipad 5th Gen.

I'll not go through all the painful and time consuming hoops I had to go through to find the solution that worked for me but the problem appears to be with how the media files are converted to AAC on download to the Device.

The solution is to untick the "Convert higher bit rate songs to" tick box in Summary/Options and for me every song fell into the right place after a Re-Synch. Of course this can open a whole new can of worms if your device is short on space and you have a lot of higher bit rate files.

This worked for me and I hope it works for you too!

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74 replies

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Dec 8, 2017 3:34 PM in response to Fan Boyd

If space is a premium you don't have to keep the library on your laptop's hard drive. You could even offload the iOS device backups if you're doing those locally rather than to iCloud. See Make a split library portable for details.

Apple don't monitor these forums for bug reports. Use Feedback - iTunes - Apple.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Feb 23, 2018 11:31 AM in response to BasketballGuy2000

See Make a split library portable and keep the entire library on your external drive. Backup to a second for security.

tt2

Mar 20, 2018 10:56 AM in response to Fan Boyd

Same For Me

Oh Oh Apple, It's time to fix the bug !!!!

May 12, 2018 7:31 AM in response to FixMyBrokenApple

I share every single word of your frustration im soooo over being forced into using a certain really old pc i have to keep alive bec its also my main itunes computer

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Jun 19, 2018 5:17 PM in response to AlexG_2013

See Organizing audiobook chapters for some ideas for them.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Jun 21, 2018 7:03 AM in response to AlexG_2013

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

Jun 21, 2018 12:09 PM in response to Fan Boyd

nice to know i'm not totally incompetent. guess i'll just use playlists until the cupertino kids get sorted.

Jun 22, 2018 5:56 AM in response to AlexG_2013

i should know better by now. so simple i feel stupid. thanks.

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Jul 12, 2018 10:55 AM in response to Chuckworld

You can create a library on the external drive and/or set the options under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced for Keep... and Copy... so that it doesn't make copies of files you add or move them around. iTunes doesn't read any structure imposed by folder layout, an album is a collection of tracks with a common album title and artist or album artist. iTunes won't read your Flac files. See iTunes for Mac installers for advice on installing an older build.

tt2

aanti

Level 1

4 points

Oct 11, 2017 1:55 AM in response to Fan Boyd

I have the same issue on iTunes 12.7, however if I remove tags 'Album Artist' and 'Album name' from the songs with Meta audio tag editor program, and re-enter them, the albums seem to grouped together. However for this I should re-tag all my existing files.

This is obviously an iTunes bug again...

Oct 11, 2017 5:25 PM in response to aanti

Good thing Apple goes out its way to prevent us using any other technique to get our MP3s onto the world's flagship music player.

Whenever I'm forced to use iTunes I think of Steve Jobs and what he cared most about.

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Oct 12, 2017 12:47 PM in response to aanti

Typically you want Album and Album Artist filled in with common values for all tracks on an album. Some views/sort orders in iTunes aren't album friendly. Without seeing some details it is hard to know what it happening. Occasionally iTunes will show multiple covers when it should not. Often adding and then removing say a trailing X from the fields that the tracks have in common will usually fix that.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,061 points

Oct 12, 2017 3:37 PM in response to Fan Boyd

I was addressing the particular post. Normally you want album artist completed to keep tracks by different artists on the same album linked together. That said I'm not seeing what you're seeing with regard to music synced to my devices, or I don;t understand you description of the issue. Each album appears to list correctly for me. Perhaps a screenshot of what you see that you think is wrong would make it clear?

tt2

Fan Boyd Author

Level 1

28 points

Oct 12, 2017 3:57 PM in response to turingtest2

Here is the issue:

1. Install Tunes 12.7. Fresh or upgrade, no difference. Delete library, no difference.

2. Pair device with iTunes 12.7. Set to manually manage.

3. Drag and drop albums onto Music entry under device.

4. Unplug device.

5. View music. Sort by Album. Tracks appear as individual albums, with cover art.

6. Deleting and reloading, same result.

7. Uninstall iTunes 12.7.

8. Delete all files.

9. Reinstall iTunes 12.6.

10. Drag and drop music to device.

11. Displays correctly.

12. Update iTunes to 12.7.

13. Choose to manually manage device.

14. Delete tracks from device.

15. Drag and drop tracks to device.

16. Artists appear as individual albums.

17. Same result on all devices regardless of IOS version.

NB: the music is independently sourced, self tagged (correctly with MP3Tag), and uploaded to the device, not "synced." The tags appear correct within the iTunes software. This is not an issue with displaying or playing music via the iTunes for Windows player.

Nov 1, 2017 6:09 PM in response to Fan Boyd

I am having the same issue and it is very annoying. I thought it will be fixed by the new iTunes update but no. I manually manage the songs in my iPhone and everytime I drag the album folder into my phone, they show up as individual tiles of songs instead of being grouped as one album. Please let me know if you have found a solution to the problem. Thank You.

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Itunes 12.7 bug: every song is its own album